Escape and Rescue
by shestolemymclife
Summary: This is my version of what should have happened in the days and weeks following kate and sawyer's escape from the Others' camp. I hope you enjoy! SKATE By the way the end of chapter 6 was missing the last bit. It is all fixed now if you want to finish it
1. Chapter 1

"DAMMIT KATE RUN!!!"

"O-okay, okay, we're going!" she gasped, "Sawyer?"

"Right behind you Freckles," she heard.

They crashed through the trees. They ran until they were far enough away that they couldn't hear the Others' shouts of anger and frustration. Suddenly Kate came to a stop.

"Freckles, what the hell are you doin! We gotta keep moving or-"

She turned to face him and he could see the tears streaming down her face.

"Sawyer, I can't leave him. After all that he's done- after what he just did, how the hell can we even think about leaving him?"

"Freckles look at me."

She refused.

"NO I mean it!!" He grabbed the sides of her tearstained face. Then, more gently he repeated, "look at me".

She lifted her eyes towards him.

"I know that you need to bring him home with you. I know that. But right now there ain't nothin we can do. We had to go. Hell, we promised him we'd go. So right now what we gotta do is find a way off this damn island and find a way back home. And once we get there, if you promise me that you'll get some sleep and actually eat somethin, then I promise you that we'll gather up the A-team and come running back out into the jungle like a bunch of idiots and rescue Jack. So whadya say sweet cheeks?"

"Okay," she whispered.

"Well okay" he smiled, "Now let's get the hell outta here!"

By nightfall they had reached the beach and they set to work building their raft.

"Lucky you were here Freckles. I woulda had no idea you could use this grass stuff as rope," Sawyer laughed.

"Yeah well, at least I'm good for somthin," she laughed back.

His voice got suddenly husky. "I can think of somethin you're even better for."

Kate blushed and looked away.

"Whaat?? Can't a man have a little fun."

"Sure he can. As long as he has something to contribute to this little thing called a RAFT, we trying to build here."

"Alright, alright I'm helping!" he shot back.

It was too late to head out on the raft that night. They curled up next to each other exhausted, and before either one could say a word they were both fast asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Stretching, Kate opened her sleepy eyes. At first the sun was so bright she couldn't see far enough to figure out where she was. Then it all came rushing back. The sex, the rain, Sawyer and Pickett… he was going to kill him! And Jack with the walkie telling her to run. And Sawyer's promise. Sawyer! Where was he?? Suddenly she wasn't feeling very well at all.

"Freckles, what's wrong?" Sawyer's worried voice interrupted the last bit of Kate bringing up of yesterday's meal.

"I don't know. I just woke up feeling like crap I guess," Kate replied.

"Well how you feeling now," he asked.

"A bit better," Kate admitted.

"Well then let's get going. If you're sick, the sooner we get back to camp the better," he said.

"I'm not sick! It was just.."

"Sure sure, I believe you. Come help me get this thing into the water," Sawyer called.

Grumpily, Kate went over to help Sawyer lift the raft into the water. They rowed for a while in silence.

"So, what are we gonna tell everyone when we get back to camp?" asked Kate.

"That the others are insane! I'm pretty sure they know that already though," Sawyer replied.

"But what if they ask about Jack?"

"Then we tell em the truth. That he's still there but we're gonna go back for him, and anyone who wants to come help is welcome," Sawyer answered.

"Really?"

"I promised you Freckles. Of course we'll go back for him," Sawyer said softly.

"I love you Sawyer," Kate said, before she had a chance to realize what was coming out of her mouth.

Sawyer grinned broadly at the back of her head before responding, "I love you too Freckles."


	3. Chapter 3

They pulled the raft out of the water and set it onto the beach. Then together, they started off in the direction of camp. It was a quick walk, 5 minutes at the most, and they passed it in silence, both nervous for the return. Kate was worried about coming back without Jack, while Sawyer was worried about returning back to a place where the people didn't like him all that much.

The first to notice them was Sun, out working in her garden. She looked up in surprise and ran to them calling their names. Soon everyone was there hugging and asking them if they were okay. Much to Sawyer's surprise he was included in this joyful reunion.

Once things had calmed down enough that he could see Kate through the throng of people, Sawyer scrutinized her carefully. She looked overjoyed to see everyone but there was something…off. But it could just be the fact that she'd hardly eaten or slept in a week. That must be it. He approached her cautiously and whispered, "Maybe you wanna go get some sleep? I'll bring you somethin to eat later on."

To his surprise she turned to him gratefully and headed off to her tent. He was left to deal with the Jack questions, but it didn't bother him. For once in his life he could give truthful answers and tell people of his plan, something they wanted to hear. No one would hate him for what he was telling them.

Later that evening Sawyer knocked lightly on the tarp that served as Kate's tent. He poked his head in and said, "I brought you something to eat."

"Thanks Sawyer," Kate yawned.

"Can I join you?" Sawyer asked.

"Of course!" Kate laughed at him, "When did you become such a gentleman?"

"Oh, well I was… I was just," Saywer mumbled rather incoherently.

Laughing Kate managed to get out, "I was only joking Sawyer."

"Yeah, yeah I knew that," He got up to leave.

"Wait, Sawyer!" He hesitated at her words, "Come share this with me."

"Okay," Sawyer smiled.

The next morning, Sawyer opened his eyes completely disoriented. He was in a tent that was definitely not his. Where was he? He looked around. That was Kate's shirt! But then where was Kate? And what had woken him up? Suddenly he got his answer. He heard a horrible retching noise outside the tent and he to Kate just in time to hold back her hair as she threw up what he could only assume was what he had brought her to eat last night.

"Freckles, what's wrong with you?" he asked her.

"I'm fine!" She turned to head back to the tent. "Must have been food poisoning or something. I'm feeling much better now."

He looked sceptical.

"Really," she assured him.

Feeling a bit better he followed her back to the tent, then stopped. They had shared her dinner last night and he felt completely fine.


	4. Chapter 4

The same routine followed for the next few days. Each day, Kate questioned Sawyer about when they were going back for Jack. Everyday, Sawyer told her that as soon as the first thing he saw in the morning wasn't last night's dinner, they would go. Secretly, he was starting to think that the sooner they got the Doc back the better. He had no idea what was making it nearly impossible for Kate to keep down her meals. More than once he had seriously considered going back for Jack without her. Quickly, he pushed these thoughts aside. He knew her too well to believe he would get away with that!

The rest of the camp was starting to notice the amount of time that Sawyer and Kate were spending together. One night it was Sun, who noticed Kate slipping through the darkness into Sawyer's tent. Over lunch she couldn't help but ask what was going on between the two. Kate told her, glad that it was this topic and not anything to do with her being sick.

However, the panic she felt when she thought Sun was going to ask her what was wrong made her make an important decision. That night after Sawyer fell asleep she slipped out of his tent and went back to her own. Just because she and Sawyer had become so close over the past weeks didn't mean he had to know everything. And it certainly didn't mean he had to know that she was still throwing up, especially if him knowing meant that their trip back to the others camp to rescue Jack was delayed even further.

"I didn't see you this mornin Freckles. How're you feeling?" Sawyer whispered into her ear as he sat down next to her on one of the logs by the fire.

"All better," she lied, "So I'm ready to go. You said as soon as I was feeling better we would head out. We should probably leave early this morning so we can get there by nightfall."

"Well okay then," he smiled glad she was feeling better, "I'll go gather up the A-team and we should be ready to leave within the hour."

Sayid, Locke and Sawyer followed Kate through the jungle back toward the other's camp. Sawyer smiled to himself. Kate really was a great tracker. They followed the trail they had left from a few days ago. Luckily they had left the raft behind a few trees near the ocean so they didn't need to waste time making a new one.

"I'm trying not to point out the obvious here but does anyone have any idea how we're going to rescue Jack? I mean, it's not like were going to be able to just walk up to the others and ask for him back," Sayid pointed out.

"We won't know anything until we get there," Kate reminded him, "there's no point in planning when we don't even know where their keeping him. We'll have to get there and figure it out then."

By nightfall, even Sawyer could tell they were getting close. Kate was shaking with anticipation and everyone else was quiet. They could tell they were almost there.

Suddenly, Kate let out a gasp. Just as quickly Sawyer was right behind her with his hand over her mouth.

"What the hell were you thinkin Freckles," he whispered fiercely.

"Why's he with them? Why isn't he running?" she whispered back, her panic showing through.

"Like you said yourself Kate, we don't know what the situation is," Locke said calmly, "We have to watch and learn."

From the distance they heard a voice.

"That's Tom!" Sawyer said in an undertone, "Shush up for a minute."

"Okay Jack, well I'm headed in. You coming?" Tom called.

"Nah, not tired yet. I think I'll take a walk or something. Be in soon," Jack replied.

"Here's are chance," Kate whispered loudly as she stepped forward.

Sayid pulled her back. "What do you want to do just run out into the others camp. We don't even know if he's on our side anymore!"

"It's Jack, of course he is! Now let me go!" she wrenched herself away from him.

"Jack," she whispered, "Jack…"

Jack's head whipped around.

"Kate!"

"Shh," Sawyer whispered

"Sawyer??"

"Look," Sawyer said, "We came to get you? Are you coming or not?"

"Whaat?? Yeah of course I'm coming!" Jack whispered back.

"Well what are you waiting for," Kate smiled with relief, "Come on!"

She grabbed Jack's hand and they ran. Stumbling over roots and through branches Kate finally allowed the relief to set in. They had found Jack and he was okay! As the relief washed over her the adrenaline stopped pumping and she suddenly began to realize just how tired she was.

As they ran, Sayid began to question Jack. "How come they just let you walk around on your own?"

"They didn't at first. They promised me that if I behaved, as soon as Ben was better I could leave the island so I was on my best behaviour and they started giving me some freedom. I guess they figured with that promise I wouldn't run," Jack replied.

"And you believed them? After everything they did to us?" Sawyer demanded.

"Of course not," Jack panted, "I ran didn't I?"

Suddenly, Sawyer had a feeling that something wasn't right. He looked behind him.

A couple yards behind Kate was staring back at him. She had just vomited again and she looked ghostly white. As he ran to her she began to fall. He made it just in time to keep her head from hitting the ground as he shouted, "Doc!!"


	5. Chapter 5

Sawyer lifted the fallen Kate into his arms as Jack turned around and then came running. Sayid and Locke had been too far ahead to notice anything. Jack called to them but it was useless. They couldn't hear him over the noise they made crashing through the jungle. Jack turned his attention back to Sawyer and the motionless body in his arms. Kate.

"Okay, put her down," Jack said, bending down to his knees "Let me take a look at her."

More carefully than Jack had seen Sawyer handle anything, Sawyer placed Kate onto the ground at Jack's knees. "Should I wake her up or anything Doc?" he said worriedly.

"No. There's no way she'd let me check her over if she was awake. You know her." As he said this, Jack felt a lurch in his stomach. Sawyer did know Kate. Probably better than Jack knew her at this point. They had spent so much time together in those cages. Learned how to depend on each other, while he was forced to… But it didn't matter. What mattered now was what the hell was wrong with Kate.

He looked her over carefully checking her responsiveness first to assure himself she was still breathing and not badly hurt. Then he started asking questions.

"How's she been since the two of you got back?" Jack asked Sawyer.

"Not amazing," Sawyer admitted, "Ever since we got back to camp she was really tired and not eating much. And what she was eating she wasn't keeping down."

"So she's been throwing up a lot?" Jack confirmed. "How's she been with sleeping?"

"I made sure she was getting enough!" Sawyer shot at him defensively, "and I wouldn't let her come on this damn rescue mission from hell till she stopped puking! Come to think of it if she's still like this she probably lied to me. If only I paid a damn bit more attention!" he growled.

Before he could stop himself, Jack heard himself comforting Sawyer, "Don't worry, I know this isn't your fault. You know her, like I said. She wasn't gonna sit still for very long when she had someone to rescue."

Jack continued, "From the looks of it she probably is extremely dehydrated. She hasn't slept since you left camp so she's gone almost 24 hours without sleep, which isn't a huge deal except for if what you're telling me is correct, she isn't getting much energy into her system from eating either. Between that and the running and the adrenaline in her system from the rescue, I think what she needs is some water, some sleep and a bit of food when she can take it. She has a bit of a fever. Hopefully it won't get worse but I don't think we should keep moving tonight. Let's make camp here so at least she can get a bit of sleep now. Do you think you could go gather up some wood for a fire? It might get a bit chilly tonight."

As Sawyer left Jack put his hand up to Kate's cheek. His cool hand on her warm skin seemed to make her stir a bit.

"Kate," said Jack softly, "Kate..."

Her eyes fluttered open. "Jack?" her voice was raspy and barely above a whisper.

"Hey Kate, it's me. You passed out do you remember?"

She shook her head no very slightly.

"You're gonna be fine, okay. But I really need you to drink some water. Do you think you could do that for me?"

She nodded.

By the time Sawyer returned she was fast asleep once more.

Sawyer and Jack stayed up talking into the night as they watched over Kate. Jack worried that her fever was starting to worsen but he didn't want to alarm Sawyer. Instead, he began trying to keep her cool with a wet cloth that he'd wipe every so often across her face, arms and legs. As he began to yawn more and more frequently Sawyer said,

"Look captain. Why don't you just head in and get some sleep. I'll watch her for a bit, I'm not tired."

As Jack opened his mouth to protest, Sawyer interrupted, "And I promise to wake you up if anything happens."

Nodding, his eyes feeling like sandbags, Jack lay down and was soon fast asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry but I forgot to add the last bit when I posted this chapter. This is the version with the proper ending.

Kate was tossing and turning fitfully in her sleep. Sawyer figured it wouldn't last but as it became more evident that something was wrong he decided to wake up Jack. Jack opened his eyes blearily and it took him a second to remember where he was.

"Doc," he heard Sawyer whisper, "Somethin's wrong."

Jack pulled himself up quickly and looked over to Kate. She didn't look great and her tossing and turning was now accompanied by what he could only assume was whimpering. He had never heard such a noise come from Kate. She was not the type to whimper. The two men crawled over to her.

"What's wrong with her?" Sawyer demanded.

Jack shook his head wondering the same thing. Something was aggravating whatever was wrong with her but he didn't know what it could be.

As he thought, Kate began to say something but at first, neither of them could make it out. Then, "Please don't!" she said with panic in her voice. "Please don't hurt him!" She looked desperate now. And then with a scream "SAWYER!"

"Freckles," Sawyer took him into his arms and began to rock her. Jack heared him murmer, "Everythin's gonna be okay now Freckles. They can't hurt you or me anymore." And then as an afterthought, "Please just get better okay?" He seemed to be begging her.

As he rocked her, she began to calm down. When she did, he lay her back down and then let himself fall down against the wall. Jack was afraid to look at him. The look he had had on his face while he held Kate was almost too much for Jack to bear. Jack considered trying to tell Sawyer to get some sleep but he knew the man wouldn't listen to him. Instead, Jack knelt down next to Kate and resumed using the wet rag to keep her cool.

As the sun started to rise, Sawyer jolted out of the lightest of sleeps. He couldn't believe he had allowed his eyes to close. He turned to look at Kate. Maybe it was just him, but he really thought she looked a bit better than she did yesterday. He turned to Jack for confirmation and Jack nodded, a bit of a smile showing through his tired face. Happily, Sawyer said, "I'll go get some more wood for the fire."

"Great," said Jack, "If she keeps up like this we should be ready to get going by this afternoon."

Jack put on a happy face for Sawyer's sake but something had been eating at him all night. Kate's behaviour had been so strange that he couldn't shake off the nagging feeling that something else was going on. Last night as he watched over her it had hit him, though it was something he really didn't want to have to ask her. However, he figured now was the best time to do it with Sawyer gone to go get wood.

He turned to Kate. Her colour was starting to come back he noticed as he smiled to himself. Then, gathering up all his nerves, he whispered her name into her ear to wake her up. Her eyes opened slowly. When she saw Jack, a small smile came to her lips, which was overtaken by a look of worry as she began to frantically look around.

"Where –" she started.

"Sawyer's just gone to go get some wood. How're you feeling?" Jack asked.

"Better than yesterday," she admitted, "but still a bit –"

She sat up very quickly leaned over and gagged. When she was finished she looked over a Jack apologetically.

"Still a bit nauseous," she finished.

"About that," Jack said as he made eye contact with her, "Look, you're not going to like me asking you this but I have to in order to make sure you're okay."

She nodded.

"Okay," he steeled himself for what he was about to do, "Kate… Is there any way that you could be pregnant?"

She looked at him startled for a second. Then onto her face came a look of comprehension and then utter terror. "Yes Jack. I could be."

As she uttered these words the nausea she felt became even worse and she could tell Jack was trying to talk to her but she couldn't make out the words. Finally she began to understand him, "…panic. We don't know anything for sure yet. But you need to drink some more water, you're really dehydrated."

She let him push the bottle into her hands and she tried to do as she was told. She drank as much as she could and then gave the bottle back to him. As she did so, she began looking around once again for Sawyer. She saw him approaching and as he saw her sitting up a smile came over his face and he sped up toward them. He dropped the wood and knelt down next to her. As Jack moved away to give them some space, Kate curled up into Sawyers arms and began to cry. He looked down at her completely bewildered by this strange display of emotions from her but he pulled her onto his lap and began the same rocking motion from last night. Soon she was once again asleep in his arms, this time more peaceful than she had been since she had gotten sick.


End file.
